beergears

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Last night I got to see Saturn, its rings and moons.
(sidewalk astro event, Cambridge, ma)

Even though it appears way small, it is a whole lot different than quality pics, a sense of tangible reality right there.

Any amateur astronomers here..?
You would think some to the .edu crowd would have access to decent observatories..?

I now have access to an area where light pollution is very minimal and plan on getting into it soon! Working on a binocular suspension system right now... I will make a two-way pivot head out of a chop saw base parts.
I would love to find a front surface mirror, like 4 x10 for not too much money, for a tabletop setup as well...

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You are looking at the hole in the doughnut and not the doughnut itself.
You primates are so predictable.

MikeFlynn74

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I had a good scope when I was a kid. 4 or 5" mirror I could see the spot on saturn and the ring on saturn. Maybe in the future I will get another one.

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beergears

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Make one!

Google "dobplans".

__________________
You are looking at the hole in the doughnut and not the doughnut itself.
You primates are so predictable.

Homercidal

Recipes 

I've had a mirror blank in process for several years. Built a trepanning system for my drill press and drilled out a 7.25 blank. Just about got to polishing stage before stopping. Cheap way to build a high quality telescope if you are a DIY person. I'm thinking about starting back up when I clean out the side shed and make it into a clean room again.

Binocular looks a bit daunting to me. A simple Dob mount will be a good start. Too many projects and hobbies ATM. Speaking of ATM, amateur telescope makers has their own clubs.

beergears

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When I spoke of binoculars, I meant making a parallelogram mount to 'suspend" the binos (less shake, more comfort)

ATMers sure do have an online presence. cloudynights forums are fun!

For grins, search for "PortaBowl".

__________________
You are looking at the hole in the doughnut and not the doughnut itself.
You primates are so predictable.

Beerthoven

Recipes 

Check out today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, taken from the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. That is Titan in the background, with Saturn's rings in front of it, and the small moon Epimethius floating over them. Amazing!

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Primary/Secondary: #90 American IPA, #91 Brown Ale

Kegged: #89 California Common

Planned: Dusseldorf Altbier, American Wheat

I use secondaries!

beergears

Recipes 

I bought what turns out to be a 1950's vintage reflector, 6" f6 mirror witha GEM (thats "German equatorial mount").

Hand built by a nerd of the day (single guy, engineer), using the classic book from Allyn Thompson -classic in the sense that is it one of the best ever written in grinding mirrors in your workshop...

I will seek the help of a local astronomy club to make sure I care for it properly.
The finder is an old Kodak military surplus type, I am told. Chunky!

__________________
You are looking at the hole in the doughnut and not the doughnut itself.
You primates are so predictable.

beergears

Recipes 

Yep, and the Saturn ring material (rocks, ice, etc) is only 150 meters thick..!

I was told that this summer. the ring formation will present itself on a straight line to us (layman's terms) and will effectively appear as gone, being so thin..!

__________________
You are looking at the hole in the doughnut and not the doughnut itself.
You primates are so predictable.

BrewBrain

Recipes 

That's no moon. That's a mellon.

Parker36

Recipes 

I was in Moab this weekend and got to see the entire Milky Way stretched all the way across the sky. Pretty cool